The Path Of Glory (Annabeth Chase x Male Reader)

56. The Dragon Of Bad Breath

That wasn't the worst option, since this was a life-or-death situation. But still, stealing a car . . . that was bound to get them in trouble.

"I think there is someone in San Francisco who can help us," Thalia said. She started rifling through her backpack. "I've got the address somewhere."

"Who?" Percy asked.

Thalia pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper and held it up. "Professor Chase. Annabeth's dad."

After hearing Annabeth gripe about her dad for two years, Y/N was expecting a man with devil horns and fangs. He was not expecting a man wearing an old-fashioned aviator's cap and goggles. This man looked so weird, with his eyes bugging out through the glasses, that they all took a step back on the front porch.

"Hello," he said in a friendly voice. "Are you delivering my airplanes?"

Y/N exchanged looks with Ethan—phew, he wasn't the only one thinking this guy was nuts.

"Um, no, sir," he said.

"Drat," the man said. "I need three more Sopwith Camels."

"Right," he said, though he had no clue what the man was talking about. "We're friends of Annabeth."

"Annabeth?" The man straightened as if he'd just received an electric shock. "Is she all right? Has something happened?"

None of them answered, but their faces must've told him that something was very wrong. He took off his cap and goggles. He had sandy-colored hair like Annabeth and intense brown eyes. He was handsome, for an older guy, but it looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and his shirt was buttoned wrong, so one side of his collar stuck up higher than the other side.

"You'd better come in," he said.

It didn't look like a house people had just moved into. There were Lego robots on the stairs and two cats sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The coffee table was stacked with magazines, and a little kid's winter coat was spread on the floor. The whole house smelled like fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. There was jazz music coming from the kitchen. It seemed like a messy, happy kind of home—the kind of place that had been lived in forever; at least from what Y/N had seen in movies.

"Dad!" a little boy screamed. "He's taking apart my robots!"

"Bobby," Dr. Chase called absently, "don't take apart your brother's robots."

"I'm Bobby," the little boy protested. "He's Matthew!"

"Matthew," Dr. Chase called, "don't take apart your brother's robots!"

"Okay, Dad!"

Dr. Chase turned to Y/N, Ethan, Percy, Thalia, and Zoë. "We'll go upstairs to my study. This way."

"Honey?" a woman called. Annabeth's stepmom appeared in the living room, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied in a bun. "Who are our guests?" she asked.

"Oh," Dr. Chase said. "This is . . ."

He stared at them blankly.

"Frederick," she chided. "You forgot to ask them their names?"

They introduced themselves a little uneasily, but Mrs. Chase seemed really nice. She asked if they were hungry. They admitted they were, and she told them she'd bring them cookies and sandwiches and sodas.

"Dear," Dr. Chase said. "They came about Annabeth."

Y/N half-expected Mrs. Chase to turn into a raving lunatic at the mention of her stepdaughter, but she just pursed her lips and looked concerned. "All right. Go on up to the study and I'll bring you some food." She smiled at Y/N. "Nice meeting you, Y/N. I've heard a lot about you."